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It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with Ted Davies (and producer Frank Prain) to listen to music from Tori Amos, through Britten and Bach, to works setting my words to music by Andrew Schultz, Micheal Leighton Jones and Peter Campbell.

Reflections is a weekly interview program that explores the life and achievements of an eminent local, national or international personality and includes fine music from our guest’s personal selection of favourites.

The program is broadcast each Sunday at 4pm and repeated at 3pm the following Friday.

A new carol-motet, commissioned by the Christ Church Music Foundation, with music by Melbourne-based composer Daniel Riley was first performed at Christ Church, South Yarra, on 16 December 2018 as part of their Carol Service.

The commissions was for a carol which spoke to the Australian setting, and I have therefore included references to lyrebirds and the gold rush, a loose translation from Dante’s Purgatorio in which he imagines the southern hemisphere ocean, and allusions to terra nullius and climate change. Nonetheless, Riley’s bejewelled setting and dynamic rhythms deliver the work as a glittering modern addition to the repertoire.

The newly written words for the commission can also be sung to Mathias’ setting of ‘A babe is born’ for congregational use.

Here is the citation for the Student Success Staff Award for Outstanding Contribution to Innovation, which I was presented in December 2018.

Since joining the team, Katherine has demonstrated an innovative and inclusive approach to everything she has done. With very short time-frames Katherine negotiated spaces for each Learning Hub and for the Maths Hub at Bundoora while drawing together separate teams into one cohesive unit.

Katherine also successfully streamlined the processes of the team and is currently working on evaluation. One example of Katherine’s innovation involved identifying and negotiating an alternate space for the Hub due to the original’s unsuitability. Katherine was able to work with stakeholders to shift and set up operations within the space of a week.

It was an incredible honour to have the work in the Learning Hub recognised, alongside award for the Peer Learning Leaders for ‘Going the Extra Mile’ and Dr Pam Delly, Student Learning, for ‘Collaboration’.

For those PhD students for whom English is not their first language, writing a thesis can be a daunting task and a source of some anxiety too. Katherine Firth has worked with many of these students and as well as offering reasons why they should feel reassured, also provides a short list of simple pointers to help improve their skills. Identify your common errors, practice regularly, and don’t become preoccupied with “sounding academic”!

A new anthem was commissioned for the century anniversary of the Horsfall Chapel at Trinity College, the University of Melbourne, ‘Sunlight Touches the Roses (Horsfall)’ with words by Katherine Firth and music by Peter Campbell. The anthem was directed by Chris Watson and sung by the Choir of Trinity College, one of the premiere sacred music ensembles in Australia.

The first performance was on Friday 6 October 2017 at a service for Founders and Benefactors of the College, and a second performance on Saturday 25 November for the anniversary of the consecration of the chapel.

The words and music draw from the present setting of the building, its history as the chapel of Trinity College and Janet Clarke Hall (in 1917 Trinity College and Trinity Women’s Hostel), from the prayers and hymns in the opening services of the new chapel, and ends with a doxology of hope for the future.

Peter Campbell and my first every collaboration, ‘In Advent Heat’, will be performed at three concerts in Melbourne and Bendigo. (This makes 6 performances of 3 seperate works in the space of a fortnight!)

Join Melbourne chamber choir Polyphonic Voices and kick off the festive season with Deck the Halls, a distinctly Australian-flavoured concert of Christmas music featuring celebrated local composers alongside more traditional Christmas carols and everything in between. Guests will be treated to suitably themed drinks and nibbles ahead of a performance that will feature unaccompanied choral music from the past 500 years, from countries such as Argentina, Finland, Germany, France, the USA, UK and Sweden. Interwoven throughout will be arrangements or original compositions by young Melbournians Dan Walker, Daniel Riley and Peter Campbell, and a new composition by talented Sydney-based composer Alice Chance. With two performances in Parkville’s beautiful Wyslaskie Auditorium, there’s no better way to entertain the prospect of Christmas and holidays!